The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1887-09-01

is produ. H.
hear it. The chirp OF ,ne sparrow is IN
audible to some persons; others, who
can hear this sound, cannot hear the
squeak of bat; and all of us arc at the
mercy of q kind OF tone deafness (analo-
gous i'll some degree to DR.. Dalton's
color blindness) in regard to sounds Of
acute pitch. A singular case of visible
but inaudible drumming occurred during
the American War of independence,
English and American ttoops were drawn
up on opposite sides of the river; the
outposts wero mutually visible; ana the
English could see an American drummer
beating his tattoo, although no sound
could be heard. This is attributed to a
kind Of tone opacity which affected the
air over the river III n particular state Of
temperature and humidity.
j. There is, to most of us, much mystcry
in sounds when louder than we expected
to find them. A we'll at CarisDrooke
Castle, Isle of Wight, has water ut the
bottom, and when so small an object as
a pin is dropped into the water the
sound can be heard above, although the
we'll is more than two hundred feet deep.
At st. Alban's Cathedral, it used TO be
said, the tick Of n watch could be heard
from end to end of that very long build
,1ng. Whether the recent restorations
have lnterferod with this phenomenon,
we do not know. 1t is Well-known
TACT that sounds can be heard over water
at q greater distance than over land.
DIR. Hatton heard person reading at a
distance OF ono hundred and forty feet
on tho Thames, whereas he could only
hear him seventy feet away when on
the shore. Sound can be heard over
ice, also, moro easily than over land
When Lieutenant Foster was wintcrine
in the arctic regions, he found he could
converse with man q mile and quar-
ter distant, both being On the ice. The
human voice, it is asserted, has been
heard ten miles off by persons at Gibral-
tar-over the water OF the strait, we pre-
sumo. The whispering gallery at St.
Paups is always mystery to visitors; O.
whisper often becomes audible at the
opposite side of the gallery, but not at
intermediate positions. The late Charles
Wheatstone once made curious observa-
tion on sound at the Colosseum in the
Regents Park, recently pulled down.
Placlng himself close to the upper part
OF the interior wall--a circle one hun
dred and thirty feet in diamcter-he
tound that spoken word was repeated
many Jlmes; that an exclamation ap-
peared like peal of laughter, and that
the tearing OF piece of paper was like
the p2ttering of hail. In the Cathedral
of Girgenti, Sicily, O whigner con br
heard The whole length OF the bmiIdino
if the whisperer places himself in the
focus of the gemi-circular apse at one
end. A story is told that long 400 o1o .
confessional box was inadvertently pIeceJ i
Just at the spot near the entrance to the
church, and Chat tho authorities frat he.
came cognizant of this awkward fact by
o ferrnent arising out of one particula1
confession.
There is no doubt of it, the fear expe
rienced' by many persons, especially
women, on hearing some of these "mys
teriolls sounds is groundless, and exam
inatiori nearly always proves it. This
fear is largely prevalent among tho fe
male sex. when alone they are apt tx
attribute each creak OF the door to some
midnight assassin, each rattle of thr
window.pane to an incautious burglar
This fear is greatly augmented by til,
imagination, which makes murderers o
rats and ghosts of oockroaches as the,
glide about during the silent watches o
6he night. Again, some persons hav,